Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1887-11-22

ever. What makes families run on,
What IL the nature OF the luxury which
enervs,ss and destroys nAiions' ? Are ~e
sure tha, there IL nonc Of II 10 our Own
lives' The philosopher 10 in advance OF
his az. even Ia the outward form OF his
life. lie is no, fed. sheltered. clothed.
warmed. like his contemporaries. In
short, | am convinced. both by faith And
sxpefisnee. that TO maintain ones self on
this earth Il no, hardship but past.
time. II he will live simply and wisely
as the pursuits OF the simpler nations are
.dll tn. spo,t. Of the more artificial
"F~ more than I've years maintained
myself thus solely By the labor Of my
hand'. and ! found that. by working
aboa, ,Iy weeks In a year. could meet
Ill the expenses Of living" Again. be
says. "For myself I found that the oceu.
patton Of day lsborsr was the most in.
depsndsa, Of any. especially s' !, rsquir-
"a oaly thirty or forty days In year to
supper, one. The lsboref's day ends
-i,h the going down Of the sun. and he
IL then free TO deso,e himself to bic chos-
en- pursuit. indspsndsn, Of bis labor; but
hi, employer. Who 'peeula,es from monih
10 month has no respite from one end OF
the year TO the o,hes."
Il there no, Ia all this . grain OF en-
coarssemen, Zoe the industrious working
man, True. thi, rustic philosopher does
no, appear to have taken into eonsidefs-
,ioa the sabsi,,snes necessary to any
family on. nigh, have TO support. ~ veil
80 himself; yet In his system OF industry
and economy be leaves ample room fof
such contingency. lie did no, believe 'n
illns.s, and |, would 20, have been sur.
pri.ing had he gone 30 FAR . 10 recon.
mead the ense,msni 10 shl, country. o!
the lsw Of Solon. which II is said that
~i,s ruler bouowed from Egypt. aud by
which any man convicted Of living an
idls life. af,sr the third accusation. "a,
r,ckoned infamous and the Areopsgus,
. sovereign tribunal ., Athens. esrefally
inquired by what means every person
.ab.i.,sd. Says TnoreAui "ln any
weather. q; asy hour Of the day OF night,
have bsea snxiOa, 10 improve the nick
Of time. aud notch !, on my stick. too
TO stand on the meeting oi,so sierni,is'.
the pas, and failure. which 10 precisely the
pr,.en, moment; 10 too that line. IL
|, unnecessary to say ths, he valued
book. "Thsy are" he nys. "ihe
treasured wealth Of the world and the hI
iahefi,anes Of g,ner.,ion, and nations.
Books, the Oldest and the best. stand
naturally and nsh,fally on the shelves Of
every cottage. They have no cause o'
their own TO plead. bat while they en-
lish,ea and sustain the reader. his com
rnoa sense will no, refuse them. TEelf
author, are q natural aud irresistible aris'
,ocraey In every society. and more than
king, OF empsror. exsri al inhisses on
mankind" In another place he observes
"Ii /, no, ell books that are IS dull s'
their readers"
Ills opinion Of newspapers ~s' not 80
high, shsn be remarks 81 am sure that
| never read any memorable news IN
ne~,p,psr II We read Of oae man
robbed, OF murdered. or killed by acct
deaf. or ons house burned. or one vessel
wrecked. or one s,eamooa, blown up. %
one COW ran over oa the Western Rail
road. OF one mad dos killed. OF one LOT OF
grss.hoppers In the winisr.-~e Lsvef
need read Of another. Ons u enough
Hos veil thi, illustration applies now
oae Of the almost inefflicsole peeu.
liarilie. about Th9rsaa VAS bis aversion To
f.rming on any larger scale ihsa What he
him.slisnssged In. lie probably formed
hi, opiaion oii,. mainly. from the III sue.
cess, which he refers TO, Of the fsrmsr o'
hi. o~n town of Concord fOf my part.
| rss.rd farming .. no, only among the
nobls,t employmsnt'. but. In general. !
believe tbs hones, sni industrious ,il!ers
Of the coil a, . class. hard {. they have
10 work, are among tue mos, eonienied
and hsppie,, Of maakind and have
.oms,imss thought that. no matter What
advantages . boy may have BY academy
or college. the oaly completely educated
man is he Who took his start IN rouahins
/, on q fsrm-,he plscs-the solid earth
before ell others, In which TO become
firmly rooted for future prosperous
growth.
Thoreau thanked heaven that there was
90 much virtue s,ill in man IS ths, the
weaving Of the pAn,slOons be wore ~a'
done ia q farmers fsmiiy-sddins. "for
I think TIE fall from the farmer 10 the
operative as grea, and memorable a. that
from the man to the farmer. As for
habitat. II l were not permitted still to
squat, | nigh, purchase one acre .. the
sam. price for which the land | eu!,ivs..
ed va. sold-nsmely, eigh, dollars and
eight cents. Ba, IS IL was, ! eonsid'
cred that I enhanced the value Of the
land by squa,,ing on IT," lie tells al
amusing siory Of how be oaee came near
owning . farm and Of bis happy escape
from il. "At . certain season OF oui
life (he obssrves) We are accustomed 70
consider every spot as the possible site oi
house. l have thus surveyed the
country on every aide within = dozen
miles OF where l live. In Imagination
have bough, ill the farms in succession
for sli were to be bought, and ] knew
the price. . . Ny Imagination car.
ii.d ms so !sr that even had the refusal
OF several fsrms.-,he refusal was all
wan,ed,-bu, | never got my fingers
burned by actual possession. The near
est ,ha, I came to actual possession VA
when bough, ,h. Hollowell place, and
had began to sort my seeds. and collected
materials with which 10 make . wheel
barrow To carry |, oa or of with; but
before the owner gave me deed OF It,
hi. wifs-svery man has sueh wife
ehsng~d her mind aud wished to keep Il,